Talk about government working against the interests of the people — the Republicans’ proposed district is a nightmare for promoting Western Maine.

Western Maine Cultural Alliance has worked for two years on a project with Maine Center for Creativity and Western Maine Economic Development to rebrand Western Maine using the creative economy as its focus.

The Republican plan completely ignores the idea that a region called Western Maine, with its own identity and its own character, might exist.

By carving up the area like a piece of sausage, the Republicans have completely undermined the best hope for a better economic future. A brand cannot be built on a confused mess, which is precisely the marketing muddle these district lines give the area.

From being chronically neglected, this magnificent region has graduated to being completely sabotaged.

The Republican proposal is not government of, by and for the people.

Toni Seger, Lovell

Western Maine Cultural Alliance